


Ice and smoke

by orphan_account



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-07
Updated: 2019-11-09
Packaged: 2020-10-12 03:14:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 10,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20557298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Village? destroyed, tribe? gone, her? who knows (a revamp on the story of an old oc of mine, will update every saturday)





	1. Lost

**Author's Note:**

> Pretty much trying to make an angsty fanfic on a fandom that I been in since I was seven and fixing a mary sue oc of mine that I made when I was twelve...

"Cela..." that voice whispered as she walked through the snow, "Cela!" she yelled as the fire burned down their house, "Cela!" a loud shriek before everything went black and she fell into the cold and unforgiving stone floor surrounded by the remains of what once was her home.

She remembers waking up in a cage, not able of seeing the sky, nor the snow, or the sea, but she felt it, she heard it, that familiar sensation of being in a boat that reminded her so much of her father, except that this time, instead of being at ease, Cela couldn´t help but to feel like something was wrong, really, really wrong.

"Monstrous nightmares?" she wondered, "No... the fire seemed different, what about deadly nadders? gronckles? zipplebacks?" none of those answers made sense, and while it was true that dragons would often attack her village, it couldn´t been them, the fire didn´t match up, in fact, and that didn´t explain why she was on a cage, which should be the firts thing a normal person would wonder.

The rest of the days were blurry, nothing but voices of people who she asumed were guards, hard bread that was almost impossible to eat, barely getting any water, and the noises that didn´t leave her sleep at night, sound that couldn´t be produced by any human, "Dragons?" it was the only logical explanation, what else would those be? but why? she didn´t care, not anymore. There were more people, not only her, and she recalls someone stealing a key from a guards, she recalls the sound of a body hitting the wooden floor, the sound of people cheering, others attacking, metal hiting metal, sometimes flesh, she was familiar with that, and now...

Now she founds herself surrounded by what appears to be the remains of a ship, visible from the cave she woke up in, exposed to the icy wind, at least she has a roof on top of her head, what startles poor Cela is that it seems like she isn´t alone, no, she definitely isn´t alone, if not? who dragged her unconcious body to that cave, who covered her in blankets and was sitting right next to the fire.

"Good thing I got this..." she thought, recalling that one time one of the guards was stupid enough to leave the remains of his meal near the cage she was in, a chicken legs, Cela couldn´t loose the oportunity to eat something other than bread and she kept the bone, sharpening againts the bars made out of metal everytime nobody was able to see her.

"Good thing you woke up, little one..." that person, now easier to see, clearly a male, wearing a hood and bulky clothes judging by his how skinny his hands were, was now aproaching her.

In the split of a second she was holding him by his shirt, the sharpened bone in one hand pressed againt his throath, hands zhaking in fear as her brown eyes stared into his, a look nobody would expect from such a young person, "Back off!" she yelled, his hazel eyes showing true terror as she tossed him away, "I- I mean no harm, m-my name is Kari!" it didn´t help, Cela tried to wake up but her legs gave and she fell on the floor, "You must be tired... Let me help you!"

"I do not trust you!" the bone still on her right hand, her father, an old and tough sailor had taught her to never let go of any weapon she could have.

"The ship crashed when we were close tot he shore, most of us didn´t make it, I found you on the shore and got lost while trying to het help..." captured, shipwreck, cave, all too fast, nothing made sense, memory loss, faint flashbacks of what happened, not knowing what is iven going on, it felt like her head was about to explote, gods, someone please tell her what jus happened.

"Explain..." she managed to mutter.

"Explain what?" Kari asked in fear.

_Everything..._


	2. Memory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A scared Kari making Cela remember what happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seriously, I spend months revamping this oc and I´m still want to change tons of stuff...

Kari took a deep breath and began to talk.

"Well... THISCRAZYGUYWHO´SSOMESORTOFWARLORDANDAHOODEDMANWEREHUNTINGDRAGONSCLOSETOTHEVILLAGESOMEONEGOTANGRYATTHEMANDTHEYBURNEDUSDOWN..." extremely fast, talk extremely fast...

Cela just looked at him in confussion, eyes wide open and jaw on the floor,"What?"

It took a while for Kari to calm down, a few deep breaths, the poor man was sweating like a pig, "Ok... So... we basically got into some guy´s way of... I don´t know, he was talking to the chief, there was someone with cages that had dragons inside, I got no idea what the chief said but... next thing I know, everything is on fire and we are on cages..."

And then she remembers all he said, her mother in front of her, trying to look above the crowd, Cela couldn´t really see the man talking to the chief, but she did notice a hooded figure walking around the place, to her, he looked like the boss of whoever talked to the chief, then, the man walked away, she couldn´t see him but she could hear his footsteps, then, the sound of something, a dragon, not one she knew, for sure, and of course, there was fire, and now she knew the fire wasn´t because of the dragons, in fact, the only thing made by a dragon was the green liquid she saw driping from the roofs of every house, destroying all around them, she remembers runing to her own house, finding someone there, someone who´s face she couldn´t recognize, and them, her mother screaming her name,.

After than, nothing, absolutely nothing but the faint memories of being in that cage.

It took a while to process, she did nothing but to sit on the floor, looking down, playing the bone on her hand.

"You know... Is not so bad, we are free and we can look for help..." Kari tried to be optimistic, yet, there was fear in his voice, one could tell by the tone and the little smile on his face that didn´t show actual happiness.

"They are gone..." she said under her breath... "Everyone is GONE..." a laugh, like the ones people do when they tried to not cry, "By the Gods... what am I gonna to do?"

"I can help you..." Kari took some distance, afraid of her reacting in an agressive way once again, "We can get out of here and... find the others... or better yet, find a village, there must be someone here!" Kari, poor and optimistic Kari...

"I can help you, I can, I know I can, and we are getting out of this alive, how hard can it be?" now, more noises, this time, ones the knew, ones she knew very well, that sound, that awful sound that gave chills down her spine.

_Speed stingers..._

She jumped out of bed, if one could call that a bed, barely being able to stand up, now letting go of that imprivised weapong of her. Kari knew what was going on, of course he did, their village had a trouble with speed stingers every single winter, he was the one who would hide instead of chasing them away or hunting them down... Cela on the other hand...

She knew what she had to do.

"See that? help me to get up there and we are running away!" she pointed at a hole on the cave that leaded outside, not the entrance but one that was big enough for them to get out, she grabbed all the yak fur that was being used as blankets and the food.

"Fire... another fire, great..." she said in a sarcastic tone, trying to set on fire the entrance, it was stone, so it wouldn´t burn down, but at least it should give them some time, all thanks to the little fire that Kari had done before...

Next thing she knew, they were out, running for their lives in the middle of what could easily become a blizzard.

A sound, that almost sounded like something hissing, opening it´s jaws in front of them...

Something hitting the ground, not them but the dragon.

_Who are you?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I mean... She´s no longer a mary sue...


	3. New faces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All that Cela knows is that he saved them and that he has a weapon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick thing, there´s this character who´s my friend´s oc, I asked him if I could use him and he is ok with it, and in case someone wonders about that oc, he never publically talked about it, it was mostly a little rpg we had back in 4th grade that remained between us and some other friends.

"You! over there!" that voice didn´t sound familiar, for all Cela new, he could be someone from her village that she never got to know, just like Kari, or maybe one of the locals, either way, he was new and had a weapon, "You! You guys there! Do you come with the rest?" it was hard to hear his voice due to the wind and the distance, but at least they had an idea of what the stranger was saying.

"Oi! I´m talking to you!" the closer he got the better they saw, tall, taller than Cela who was over average for her age, blond? dirty blond, no, honey blond, if they ignore the snow covering his messy hair, blue tunic, brown pants, boots covered in fur, a black shirt over his tunic, long sleeves and a belt...

"Back off!" what was she thinking? yes, she was... trained, to be like that, proud parents who taught her how to deal with dragons, way more dangerous than a viking, but that´s the point, he is a viking, someone like her, she has no idea on how to fight people and while yes, she isn´t helpless in a fight and could even win one, the man aproaching them isn´t like Kari, he isn´t lanky and scared, he is the the literal oposite, and on top of that, he has a sword, a sword and a bow, by the gods, the sharpened bone on her hands can do nothing againts that and she could do nothing but to say empty threats, gods, how much she hated that, feeling traped, useless, poweless and traped.

"Calm down... He may be on our side..." Kari´s legs were shaking and he was getting paler than the snow itself, "I´m talking to you, can´t you hear me?" the man who just took down a speed stinger and probably has done it before, she had no idea on how other people saw it but as far as she knows, those are one of her people´s worst enemies, quite dramatic, indeed, but true, many viking were lost because of them, including him... 

_Dad..._

"Can´t you- Of course you can´t, you aren´t from here, you obviously aren´t used to this kinds of storms..." now that he got closer... he seemes more... friendly, in a way, yes, he was tall, he was strong and looked like a warrior, but he looked young, older than Cela but still young, he couldn´t be older than Kari, who was in what? mid twenties? early thirties at much, highly unlikely.

And with that Kari sighs on relief, Cela looks confused, in all reality, all of the sudden it feels like they are ignoring the fact that the place is infected with speed stingers, "I´m Ryden, chief of Hagthuria!" and he spoke like it wasn´t a big deal, "You must be the guy who got lost... And you..." he looked at Cela, mostly staring at the bone on her hands, "Meh, you must be with them, follor me and don´t get stinged!" and he walked like it was nothing with a big smile on his face.

-What about the dragon?

\-- Uh? Oh, that little guy... I´ll explain later!

Cela didn´t know how much they spend walking, they were sinking into the snow yet he didn´t seem to mind, her village wasn´t like that, it felt like they took the whole day and she was most likely right, when they arrived it was already dark, the village seemes familiar, houses made of wood, intricate designs carved into them, like her home, though the runes were new, same for the stone fences around them, not a common thing were she lived, and the high foundations also made out of stone.

A woman who looked around Ryden´s age came out of one of the houses and started to yell at him, she didn´t pay that much attention though, _"Guess some things never change..."_ it reminded her of home, yes, it was different, but it looked close enough to the village she once lived in, and the people reminded her of her tribe.

_Jerda._

"Come in! Alda says you can stay!" that woman was apparently named Alda, or maybe there was someone else´s, they got inside anyways...

"Ryden, you stupid troll..." everyone is tall in that village, apparently, she looked young, one or two years older than Cela at much, if not the same age, "Aw, come on! It´s my duty as a chief, you wouldn´t know..." he mubles, and she looks at him, almost yellow eyes burning like flames and messy and curly black hair covering her face, "I´m also going to be chief one day! The day I go back to Sotha!" 

Kari seemed more interested in devoruing the bread and soup they gave him, same for the drink, Cela was more interested in Ryden arguing againts the lady in a red dress, decorated in fur, black pants and golden jewelry.

"I´m just saying you should be more cautious with who you bring here! they could be the same people who got the jerdians on those ships for all you know!" and she stormed upstairs, Ryden still shouting in a quite comedic tone, "Are you serious? look at them, wearing rags and stuff! the people who did that to them probably wore better stuff!"

Great, more questions, she wasn´t sure who did that to them but she does indeed remember their unform, grey, red-ish leather, green in some parts, for some, other wore pels over dirty clothes, she never saw something weird, at least that she can remember, but Ryen was right, Kari, beige shirt dirty and with holes, same for his blue pants, her, red tunic being way shorter than what it used to be, needing a few stiches on the sleeves, her grey pants also dirty, her boots too, she had lost her belt and bracelets, "Yeah, we better get you something..." Ryden said, right before a little thing climbed to his shoulder.

"Dragon!" Cela screamed jumping back, letting her bowl of soup fall into the ground, wielding the spoon as a weapon, making a fool of herself for reacting like that.

"Oh? this little fella?" Ryden looked back at the teal terrible terror on his shoulder, "I call him Runi..."

By the looks on their faces he could tell their village didn´t got the news, "You see, I went to this place called Berk a while ago and..." the same look, nothing had change, except for Cela who now was blushing in shame for what she just did.

_Oh boy, this is going good..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Went to an school event (yes, on saturday) and had someone visiting our house and I was literally forced to be there... Yep, I need to sleep, but gotta write this firts...


	4. A little story

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our new friend Ryden explains what´s going on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this had to be published yesterday but I was busy all day

Ryden began to explain everything to the confused people, mostly Cela, poor Kari just stood there, eating his soup.

-So... Here´s the thing, a while ago I went to this island called Berk and met the chief, see, he has a soon, younger than me... have you heard of him? "The conqueror of dragons" or something...

-To the point...

-Right... See, at the beginning they hid all the dragons and I thought _"Oh nice, they got rid of them!"_ and then, and you won´t believe this...

Cela´s eyes narrowed, she was clearly annoyed by the fact that Ryden didn´t seem able to be direct, she hated that, it reminded her of someone, a trader than once in a while came to her village, Berk too, in fact, all the archipielago.

-A night fury!

She didn´t believe him, he had to be lying, though part of the look on her eyes said she did, mostly curiosity, to be fair, "There´s no way you could survive that..." she thought, but still, there had to be someone who did or else they wouldn´t know the little information they had.

\- Oh, come on! Toothless is a nice dragon and so are the rest! Ok, at the beggining I wanted to throw a rock at him and I´m not gonna lie, he looked like he was about to kill me **but**, he didn´t, that kid, Hiccup, I think... he somehow tamed that dragon and now every berkian has one, and I thought to myself, why not? listen, this village already has tons of problems with those guys and if you can´t defeat your enemy you might as well join your enemy...

Nonsense, absolutely nonsense, dragons and vikings getting along, now what? trolls dancing with valkeries at the battlefield, to her, it sounded like something as stupid as that. There´s no way a dragon could be tamed, controled, yes, maybe, but it won´t be pretty, by the way Ryden described it, that kid didn´t tamed it, he befriended it, and she heard the stories, rumors, absurd fantasies, what else would those be? the son of Stoick the vast breaking a tradition as old as time just to _befriend_ a dragon, surely those people had to be kidding, but there she was, in front of someone who was actually there, with a terrible terror on his shoulder as a proof.

-Listen, you may not believe me, but I can show you, my men where with me and once we came back, I told my people, look, whoever has dragons is a powerful ally, we need an ally since father passed away, we might as well get along with the dragons just like they did, yes, the circumstances where different, but it turned out better for Berk, so why wouldn´t it work here...

Now his face was more serious, like part of those words hurt, and she knew what he was talking about.

-I´m not expecting dragon riders, I´m just expecting that the people here know how to work with them rather than againts them and well, it´s better than I expected, still need some improvements though...

* * *

Ryden had to be crazy, derranged, but he had a point, maybe... In all reality it seemed like he did but Cela wasn´t convinced yet, one of those thing took her father, her grandparents, her sister, her brother and it´s most likely the reason why those men burned down her village, but she remembers moments when those beast were almost as human as her, fear on their eyes, mothers protecting their children, leaders defending their territory, she would be lying if she said she hasn´t killed one...

A nadder, a mother, protecting her nest, her firts time doing it by herself, nothing but an old sword and a shield that she stole from the blacksmith, she wasn´t a skilled fighter and was way younger than what she is now, the mother was distracted, it was early on the morning, most people where asleep, she wore her mother´s helmet that day, too big for her, next thing she knew, she was standing on a rock on top of the dragon and her nest, read to jump, she sword was too heavy but if she managed to land on top of the dragon it would be easier and she did, she jumped down, praying to every god that she didnd´t die. What were a few seconds felt like an eternity but she managed to hit the poor thing, she didn´t kill it, though.

She was lucky to have a shield, she was fast enough to not die because of the flames but not fast enough to scape, the scar on her right arm indicated that, the next minutes consisted on her covering herself with the shield she stole and avoiding the flames, staying on the dragon´s blind spot.

_Avoid the spines._

_Avoid the flames._

_Avoid death._

Then, she did it, close enough to attack and not being burned, right below the nadder´s neck, a sword going through the poor thing that soon would fell into the ground, crushing her, who had trouble getting out of ther, eggs, alone, completely alone, waiting for death the moment they hatched.

_This doesn´t feel right, this doesn´t feel the way everyone describes it... but I did it, **I did it, I killed a dragon...**_

She did a good job on hiding her uneasiness it with pride as she came back home carrying a bag filled with spikes, the only thing she could carry at the time and the cheers of the people made her forget about the doubt she had back then, but now...

Whatever Ryden was saying made that doubt come back, now with guilt, guilt she never realized before.

* * *

-Show me...

Her look stern as she standed in front of Ryden, who just now noticed how tall she was.

-Show you what?

-What you said, the dragons...

-I can´t take you to Berk right now...

-I´m not asking for you to take me to Berk...

-Then what do you want...

The room went silend before she spoke, her voice breaking like her pride was being taken away from her and those words hurt.

-I want you to show me what you said about dragons...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do apologize for my schedule (freaking school)


	5. Hunters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little flashback.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, dragons...

"Are we there yet?" that question, again, and again, asked by every single young hunter except for Cela, not that she wasn´t curious about the topic, bt because she knew what was going to happen, "For the last time, no!" the man in front of them stoped and looked around the place, "Oh, my bad, we´re here!" he extended his arms almost like showing off the place, "This, you weaklings, is were you are going to become vikings!" and then he pointed to a cave.

Large and dark, covered in moss and some snow, _It´ll soon be winter, I´ll better get ready_, Cela thought as the man explained the rest, "Oi! Cela! focus!" her face turned red as the rest of the class mocked her, "Just because you already hunted a dragon doesn´t mean you´re avoiding this!" and the class went silent, yes, yes she did, the spines she brought back home were a proof of that, next to the sword covered in blood and the scar on her arm, that was slowly healing, but that didnd´t make her a viking, no, she had to do it the traditional way or else she would be nothing but a stupid kid who got lucky and didn´t die while fighting a dragon.

"This, this place, is filled with dragons, nadders, monstrous nightmares, gronckles, terrible terros, smothering smokebreaths, snaptrappers, zipplebacks and if it wasn´t enough, this cave is conected to the sea, anyone who gets close to the water has a change of finding a scauldron..." he laughs, leaving a knot on everyone´s troat, some legs and arms shaking and others praying to the gods.

_Deadly nadder: make noise and stay on blindspot, avoid spines. Gronckle: be quick, hit the nose. Monstrous nightmare: run away from fire, don´t get too close. Terrible terros: distract and avoid large groups. Smothering smokebreaths: they like metal, avoid. Snaptrappers: don´t get close to the smell of chocolate. Zipplebacks: confuse the heads. Scauldrons: don´t get close to the water._

Cela didn´t know how much was true or even useful, all the knew is that the goal was to get out of that cave alive and with a prize, and another nadder wouldn´t be enough.

Heart pounding, a cold sweat down her spine, hands shaking just like her legs, slow steps, a sick feeling on her stomach like she was about to throw up, _I can do it, I can do this, I already did, just remember what they said, remember what dad said, I can do it, I can do it, I can do it..._

"Here we are!" those words once again, this time, making her wake up from a memory, this time, the cave was smaller, completely cover in snow, except for the entrance, "We don´t have stables but we got caves, I want you to met someone...

With a torch on his hand. Ryden entered the place, Cela following him, Runi, Ryden´s terrible terror, standing on his shoulder, licking an eye, minding his own bussiness. There were dragons sleeping, none of them seemed to mind the noise, some were awake, pacefully going about their lives, at least Cela hoped, it would be a lie to say she wasn´t uneasy.

Ryden seemes the exact oposite of that, "Hi guys..." he said softly as he pets the head of a few dragons, treating them like those were his children, not something one would expect from someone who looks like, well, **him**, but that wasn´t the point.

-So... I´m here, what´s the deal?

-Oh, that, follow me...

They went deeper into the cave, more dragons, dragons, dragons, every corner was filled with dragons, just like that place.

_Run, don´t get burn, avoid the fire, avoid the spines, avoid the boiling water, run, run, jump, pick a targer, pick a target, run, run, take your swords, attack..._

Cela felt a knot forming on her throat as she looked the way Ryden was pointing at.

_People of Jerda, it is my pleasure as your chief to announce the best of her class, Cela Djorten, who will join our hunters next to the best of every class, with her not only hunting down a deadly nadder before everyone her trial but being the lucky one who hunted down, and you may already know this:_

_A woolly howl!_

"Wait!" memories came back, things she didn´t pay attention to at the time, she should have seen it coming, she had that luck, everything she once did always came back to her. "Uh? thought you´ll like it, I don´t know, you reminded me of her..." 

"We didn´t have many of those back in Jerda..." she tried to hide whatever she was thinking, in case he could somehow tell, "How curious, we got lots of them here in Hagthuria..." he seemes oblivious to her face and voice, "Oh..." emotionless voice that seemed to disconect from reality, eyes looking at the floor and then at the dragon.

"She´s harmless, go ahead, I have something to do, I´ll be back soon, see ya!" he went running away from the cave, looking quite excited, Cela wanted to scream, to yell at him and call him an idiot and what not because of what he did, but was it his fault? no, in fact, he knew nothing about her past and her peculiar luck, besides, reeleasing her frustration with an stranger that has been so kind to her and her people wouldn´t help at all.

"H- Hi there, little dragon... or... not so little..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Side note, are this names of the islands based on actual runes? yes.


	6. Trying

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flashbacks and a new start

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Literally been busy all day doing stuff for school... on saturday... I wanted to post this earlier...

Cela remembers that day, she remembers avoiding death in a cave filled with dragons, just like the one she is in, and the thing she will never forget...

_A woolly howl... It had to be one..._

To be fair the poor thing was sleeping and she was silent enough to get the job done and take something that proved she did it, cutting the wings wasn´t easy nor it was silent but she did it on time, a huntress claiming her prize, that´s how she saw it at the time, the remorse came later, when she was at the big dining hall filled with those so called prizes, statues and happy vikings drinking mead, those thoughts haunted her once in a while, but they must´ve be wrong, they had to be wrong, that´s what her mother said, what her father said, what everyone on her village said.

_A dragon isn´t a friend, is an enemy, therefore, they have to be hunted down._

She belived that, most of the times, truth be told, she found herself constantly repeating that to herself, but now, seeing a dragon like the one she killed that day, peacefully on it´s nest, just looking at her with curiosity, made her think that maybe, just maybe, she wasn´t the one who´s wrong, no, no, that couldn´t be, could it? well, she was going to do what in her tribe would be considered completely insabe, for Thor´s sake, but then again, if the berkians did it, and the people of Hagthuria are following them, maybe one of the few people of Jerda that managed to scape can join them to.

"Hi..." the dragon did nothing but stare at her, "Are you ok, girl?" years of learning about those "beast" she had to hunt down had it´s perks, "I´m not going to hur you..." saying that felt to weird to her, but she wasn´t going to do that, it´s not like she could do that anyway... "At least´s it´s ice and not fire..." she whispered, trying to aproach the dragon, the dark brown spikes on it´s back looked so much like warm fur, sort of inviting, specially in winter, but she knew it wasn´t fur, despite looking like it.

"The rest it´s complitely white... except for the underbelly..." a cream color, she was studying it the same way she was thaught as a kid, color, size, teeth, claws, Cela wasn´t hunting, but might as well know what she was about to deal with.

The dragon seemed to be doing the same, finally she moved, tilting her head as she walked towards her, even getting as far as smelling her, she was, as far as Cela could tell, friendly, maybe the dragon was young, maybe she was separated from her parents, maybe that´s why she seemed to be in good terms with every viking that she saw.

"Hey! I see you to are getting along!" Ryden was unxecpected, yes, he said he would come back, but Cela didn´t imagine it would be so soon, and neither would she expect him to be followed by something she never imagined to be possible.

-I wanted you to meet Shiver!

**A freaking snow wraith...**

-You people are crazy...

* * *

Now outside the cave, she had a better look at him, snow wraiths are known to be a complete nightmare, something that can only bring death, yet, there it was, a well behaved one, at least it seemed like one, "I found him wounded on a cave, this place it´s filled with those, I gave it some fish, I got some help and now I think he likes me..." well behaved and unenthusiastic, "I wish that kid Hiccup was here, I mean, I sort of knew what riding a dragon felt like, but he didn´t taught me the whole thing, I had to figure it out by myself, and now..." he chuckles, "It´s your turn!" 

He was, with no sign of a doubt, absolutely, 100%, crazy...

* * *

-No, no, slow, slow, you don´t want to scare her...

-Scare her!? me!?

In all reality, Cela looked more scared than the dragon herself.

-Just to as I say!

-Yeah, yeah, aproach the dragon and pet it...

She was, naturally, careful while doing it, some instinc told her to be, that or Ryden constantly telling her to slowly aproach the dragon.

_Screw this..._

In less than a second, her hand was on the dragon´s nose, cold, cold and scaly, as expected, but it had something that made it feel... nice, no, bearable, like petting a random animal but instead of the tipical ones she found at her village, it was the thing her people feared and hated the most.

-Great! now... Give her a name...

-I told she already had one...

-I been having a creative block lately...

Cela rolled her eyes and looked back at the dragon standing in front of her, big purple eyes staring at her, it felt like it was judging her, looking at her soul or something, "What about..." she had to choose something with meaning, if she was about to do it right, "Huntress?" and it had to be related to that, of course.

The dragon started to move her tail up and down, the look on her eyes changed, "Huntress, do you like it? Huntress?" the reaction was the same, "I think she does!" Ryden looked at both of them with happiness and certain level of pride, then he looked at Shiver, who´s attention was caught, "Alright, icy boy, let´s see if those two can make it..."

Cela wasn´t going to lie, she felt better after doing that, all the fear and anxiety going away, yet, part of her didn´t accept it, and she was... smiling? certainly she couldn´t be, could she? maybe she was, but it was hard to notice, thanks Thor, her eyes gave it away though, "Now, let´s see if you two can do the next part!" Ryden was now riding Shiver, she didn´t noticed the saddle on his back, the dragon didn´t seem bothered, "Don´t worry if it doesn´t work at the beggining, this requires trust-" and he stopped talking once he saw what was going on.

-OHGODSOHGODSOHGODS

-YOU COULD AT LEAST WAIT FOR ME TO TELL YOU!

Huntress had, apparently, understood the whole deal way earlier than expected, but not properly, she took Cela and was now flying away with an screaming teenager on her paws.

_Well, there she goes..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trying to make the chapters longer.


	7. Among the clouds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The following of what happened the last chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have tons of homework to finish and this would probably be a little bit short.

"GET ME DOWN YOU OVERGROWN LIZARD!" Cela kept screaming and kicking, clearly panicking, and what made it worse, Ryden did nothing, he didn´t even try to follow them, another one of his weird ideas, most likely, the moment she gets down, he **will** have a fist on his mouth and teeth on the floor... 

The dragon didn´t seem to stop, in fact, the now known as Huntress took it as a game of some sort, quite twisted indeed but she found it funny, in a way, whatever a dragon finds funny, that kind of thougts didn´t help Cela, fear? anger? regret? (of doing what Ryden said, of course) she wasn´t sure, but the only thing she knew is that she wanted to get down, fall to her knees, cover her face and scream, scream until her lungs gave up.

And make certain chief pay, of course, stupid Ryden.

"Calm down, calm down Cela, try to get on the dragon´s back, just... don´t fall into your death..." easier said than done, she never thougt about how it would feel up there, how cold and windy it would be, not even in how weird it would feel, well, maybe the feeling on dread on her stomach was because of the nature of the situation, it wasn´t too much of a strech, but then again, this was new, and yes, someone did it before, there´s a whole village doing it but she wasn´t like them, but one this is for sure, this, among all the stupid things Cela has done on her life, **this**, has to be the wosrt.

"You think they´r fine?" Ryden asked to his dragon, Shiver didn´t even look at him, clearly he didn´t care about what was happening, "I mean... she has to learn..."

-CALM DOWN YOU STUPID OVERLY GROWN, FURRY LOOKING, SNOW DWEALING LIZARD!

-One way or another...

* * *

"Ok, ok, you got this, you got this you can do it..." Then Huntress started to bump into things, "Or not! definitely not!" possibly due tot he weight, Cela try to reach the dragon´s back, yet, she kept hanging from it´s claws, she clearly wasn´t used to carrying something, let alone someone, "Well, clearly this one has never raided a village before..." 

One hand free, trying to climb, the other trying to to fall, once she managed to get on Huntress´s back, she felt a little bit more safe, as safe as someone can be while ryding a <strike>beast</strike>, dragon, _dragon_, not a beast, not in that way. "Let´s do this, ok, calm down, calm down..." she wasn´t sure if it was for her or Huntress, but it was, somehow, reasuring, she hoped, not that it made her heart stop pounding like againts her ribcage, or the knot on her troath go away, nor the nausea, or the feeling of dread, but it was a little bit less, just a little.

"Ok, now... calm down, calm do- Oh, for Odin´s sake, how many times have I said that?! Steady!" commands weren´t her thing, but she got the idea, sort of, again, maybe it was the weight of someone on her back, "Alright, alright... Now... Try to go down..." she didn´t move, but her pupils did, Cela knew that look, not that she had seen it before but she knew what it meant, somehow she knew, like those thing you just know are going to end up in complete and utter disaster.

"Huntress... I told you to go DOWN!" and saying she was diving was an understatement, poor Cela was quite literally holding on to dear life, and to make things worst, if she fell into the water, that would mean freezing to death or drowning, luckily she avoided that, only to be face to face with a wall of rocks that belonged to a cliff and crashing onto it.

Both of them fell and it was frankly a miracle that none of them died, or broke a bone for that matter, Cela´s heart was definitely about to come out of her chest and the only thing her body could do was to throw up her breakfast.

-HA! YOU MADE IT! I wasn´t going to follow you but things got interesting and I had to, you survie all of this!

-You... **_you_** _where_ just there... watching us?

-I was, now I´m here!

-RYDEN YOU SON OF A TROLL!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, this was my failed attempt at comedy...


	8. Little one

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little flashback to Cela´s childhood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this should have been up yesterday but I was at school (yes, on saturday, I had something to do, it´s been a really busy week for me) and I was so tired I fell asleep for the rest of the day.

She must´ve hit herself in the head, just a few words, a punch and she was on the floor, well, at least she got a little revenge, but now... Time will tell what´s gonna happen next, for now, Ryden better get her back to safety before she catches a cold or freeze´s to death.

* * *

_-Little one, Cela..._

A voice, so warm and familiar, it was mother, her mother.

_-Cela, my child... Wake up little one..._

Her room was upstairs, her bed almost touched the wooden floor, the space was smaller than the rest of the house, way smaller, but it was her room. The shape of the roof made the walls curve, but at least she had a nice big window next to her bed so she didn´t feel trap it, unless it was dark of winter, but she would be sleeping or working on the farm in that case, so she didn´t mind.

_-Cela, wake up and said goodbye to your father._

_-Ok, ok..._

Her voice sounded more like she was complaining, she sort of was, after all, little Cela was comfortable sleeping in her beed surrounded by pillows and a blanket made out of yak fur, she reachet out for her boots, which were right next to her bed, grabbed a blanket, wrapped herself with it and went downstairs, not forgetting to look from the little balcony inside of the house, moving the courtains she had put there, and looking down to see if her mother was already making breakfast, and judging by the steam coming out of the couldron and the smell that somwhow she didn´t notice before, she indeed was.

_-Please be safe, Ragnar, you know the sea is dangerous at this time of the year..._

The small, brown haired lady with dull blue eyes said to the tall and strong man standing next to the door, his black beard covering most of his face, some hair sticking out of his helmet, Cela heard that, she knew her father would be safe, he´s been a sailor for years, one of the best, he was a hunter before meeting her mother and having her and her siblings, and above all of that, he was a viking, with no doubt, he was a viking, a well respected one too, _he_ was, after all, what she aspired to be.

_-C´mon, Helga, you know me, I´m always safe!_

_The look on Helga´s face disagreed with that statement._

_-I was attacked! It was a kraken!_

_-A kraken? Ragnar, listen to yourself, you have slayed tons of tidal class dragons yet make excuses like being attacked by a kraken... Just admit the ship was damaged and that´s were you got injured._

_\- Helga, you kno-_

_-The children are here..._

Little Cela just stared, standing still, next to the stairs, the tiwns, Lenna and Nardi already on the table, waiting for their food, talking about something, Nardi playing with his black, messy hair, Lenna´s blue eyes focused on the bown and spoon in front of her.

_-I think I´ll cut my hair..._

_-You better, I won´t allow that my brother´s hair is longer than mine!_

_-Now that you say that, I wont be cutting it..._

_-Nardi, you little rat eating worm..._

_-Now, children, please don´t fight..._

** _-Yes mom..._ **

It was normal, her father would leave for a few months, her mother will wake them up early to say goodbye, the twins would argue about something stupid (this time it was hair, like it wasn´t short enough already, Nardi wanted to cut it off again...), and as the youngest member of the family, Cela was expected to be oblivious to everything, she wasn´t, that´s for granted, but she pretended to be, she walked to the table and sat on her chair, next to Nardi this time, last time she sat next to Lenna, her mother and father had their own spot, but while her dad was gone, she way as well take his seat ultil he comes back, that get´s her out of the food fight among the twins.

_-Didn´t I wake you up for something..._

** _-Of course, mother..._ **

_-No, no, let them eat, I´ll have something myself too, I got time!_

Ragnar always did his best to spend time with his family, specially since he barely saw them, Helga appreciated that, they had some... fights, once in a while, they... just didn´t work like they did before, again, Cela knew that, so did the twins, but they had to act like it wasn´t that way, despite all of that, the moments when they acted like that wasn´t the case were cherised moments.

* * *

_-Well, goodbye everyone! See you´ll soon!_

And he went outside, carrying a bag filled with all that he would need, gone for months into the sea, it was normal for them, despite of that, little Cela was a little bit to attached to her dad, so it always hurt a little, when he became a sailir, acording to her mom, he didn´t hesitate, he didn´t though about them, he didn´t hesitate to leave his pregnant wife, at least he was there to see the tiwns being born, he wasn´t there when she was born though.

It was quite silly, silly, just silly, maybe it was because he was nice to them, maybe it´s because he did his best to act like he never went away, maybe it´s because he represented everything she wanted to be, no matter what, Cela was more attached to him than the rest of the family, an ausent father who probably didn´t deserve that much attention, it was silly, stupid, definitely stupid, part of her wanted to excuse him, the other didn´t, to Cela, that was indeed, stupid.

_-DAD!_

_In lest than a second she was running after him, leaving her blanket behing, still on her sleeping robe, hair all messy and breakfast not fullly eaten._

_-What is wrong, my child?_

_-I forgot to ask you something..._

_He didn´t look so pleased with that._

_-When you come back, would you teach me to be a hunter? like you when you were younger..._

_-Ehhh... Of course! Of course I will!_

_-Really?_

_-Yes, I will... no I have to go..._

_-GOODBYE DAD!_

She stood there, waving until her mother took her back home.

_-Goodbye, little one_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back to the present on next chapter.


	9. Issues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cela is knocked out (yeah, she hasn´t wake up yet...) and Ryden has to take her to a healer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little background story on Alda´s character and Ryden

_You got a little bit to excited, ain´t that right, huntress?_ Ryden asked, eyes still looking at the path in front of them, Cela was on Huntress´ back, he made sure she won´t fall as the dragon walked, neither her or shiver liked the idea of walking all the way to the village, but Ryden wasn´t going to risk Cela´s life by putting her on top of a flying reptile who has trouble with carrying someone, he even went as far as tying a rope on both of the dragons so they wouldn´t get lost...

The walk felt longer than what it actually was, but now there where on the village and Cela could get some help, for the time being, Huntress would sleep in the same stable as Shiver, but now, he had to carry an unconsious person to the nearest healer.

* * *

_So... is she going to be ok?_

_Why do you ask?_ the old man´s grey and almost lifeless eyes stared at the young chief....

_Curiosity..._ Ryden avoided making aye contact, but judging by the small glimpse he got, the healer didn´t believe him.

_Well, you know... I´m the chief, I have to take care of everyone, even if they aren´t from the same island! _

_Oh, fine, I though it reminded you of what happened to certain someone, you know..._ he turned back and looked at Cela, then proceed to apply some sort of ointment on the old scars that she hid, _This should help to make them look... better, I supose, whoever took care of this didn´t knew how to, that´s for sure..._

It was safe to say Ryden wanted to protest but loose his chance the moment the healer changed the topic, but what he said was true, he was the chief,<strike> it was</strike>, it is his duty after all, that´s what a chief does, what his father did, and on top of that he was the oldest of four children, he had two brothers out there on the sea defending Hagthuria, he had a sister out there exploring the land on her own, and him? well, he was stuck on an island pretending that nothing was wrong and avoiding any conflic with the other tribes, sure, he is the chief, but he is also young, someone who started being too young and now has been stuck for years trying to fix something that wasn´t his fault.

If he was going to do something, other than keeping appearances and making everyone believe Hagthuria was the perfect place, is making it that perfect place, or no, maybe not so perfect, but better, a place that his siblings could came back to and be proud, a place that could be know for something other than freezing people to death, that it could be know as something, just something...

And that kinds of thoughts got lost the moment Alda entered through the door, stomping and shaking off the snow that had fallen on her hair,_ Hey, so... remember the other guy, Kari (?), well, he found his family and left so... one less mouth to feed!_ then he looked back at her the same way one would look at someone who is being extremely rude and Alda felt the blood rushing to her cheeks.

_Bad moment?_ then she saw Cela and the healer, _Oh..._

_Well, I´m done with the her... She´ll be fine, just give her some time and make sure she keeps using the ointment for those scars of her..._ and the man left.

_Sorry, should´ve knock..._ She sat next to Ryden, Runi on her shoulder, _Hey, little one..._ Ryden proceed to pet it like a cat, _Well, now that you are here, any news from Sotha?_

Alda didn´t seem to excited about the question and she avoided looking at him, instead the tugs her arms into her cloak and her feet inside of her skirt just like a child would,_ Nothing yet... I... I know mom and dad would write soon! once everything is done!_ not even she believed that... _They are worts than bersekers, Ryden, Sotha wasn´t ready for the raidings and what not... It was the usual, they would come into the island, we would trade goods, firm the truce and it would be done but... We got a bad winter, we lost too many stock and crops and... Well, they would take what they wanted even if it means war!_

She looked down and stayed quiet for a while.

_"If anything is going to happend to Sotha, at least the future chief will be safe" man... I hated hearing those words and... I haven´t heard anything from my people since then, I´m thankfull that your dad got along with mine but... I don´t want to be useless, I want to go there and deal with the problem, I want to help but... Agh, forget about it... _

_Hey, if you want to talk I don´t mind liste-_

_Look!_ she pointed at Cela, where she could spot her head moving and heard some groaning.

_My head... Where- wait- what? she looked at both of them... Was it really that bad?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Literally writing this and pretending it´s for homework or something like that to avoid talking to the visits...


	10. Run

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cela finally woke up... At the worst moment...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I already said that this whole thing is based on some old rpg that some friends and I had... Well, this is a revamp of Cela´s story but... This part is definitely a mess... I should mention that I´m taking part of the lore from School of Dragons because why not... (Also, Alda´s dragon is something I friend and I made for her, Alda´s player wanted her own dragon and we created one for her)

_Run, run, run and don´t stop, keep moving before they get you_, they already did, they did and Kari knew it, he had a family to protect, despite himself being a little bit of a coward, but he had to get back to them, he had to, but it was too late, too late, they were already in the village.

No, no, it couldn´t happen again, it just couldn´t, he knew it the moment they saw him and the moment he felt a hand on his shoulder holding him down and almost breaking his bones.

They found them...

* * *

_Hey, what´s going on here?! _ Ryden aproached the crown of people surrounding the strange visitors, Alda and Cela were behind him, Alda helping the extremely dizzy and confused Cela, and if one thing can be taken for granted, is that the three of them felt a knot on their throath and a cold sweat running down their backs the moment they saw them, **_them_**, those people...

-It appears my men weren´t able to convince any of you people, and now... You ran away and hid like nothing but rats... I would like to have a word with your chief...

-Who should be me, Ryden, son of Aren the great, who am I talking to?

-Nikora Stormheart...

And the crowd went silent, *So she has a name, she was the one who did it, her and those men...* if she had anything just anything to attack, Cela wouldn´t hesitate, Alda, on the other hand, didn´t care, she was there, she was behind everything that happened to her, to her people, to her village, she didn´t think about it, she took the firts rock that was on her way and threw it at her, even aproaching that woman so her aim didn´t fail her, but it did, it did and Alda couldn´t do nothing but to look at her, eyes filled with tears and anger, her voice broken, not letting her said what she wanted to.

-The girl from Sotha... 

-I apologize for her, now, if you wish to, we can take this to the a private place and before I forget, your men... your men are not allowed there, neither mine, that way we can be sure we won´t attack each other...

-Fair enough.

Ryden knew, he knew what she did, before this day, she was nothing but what Alda had told him, he knew what she was capable of and what happened to Cela´s village, he had to be careful with her. The walk to the great hall never felt so long, and something inside of him just wanted to throw up everytime he oppened his mouth, _I wish father was here..._ but he wasn´t, he was long gone and he was the chief now, this was his responsability now.

-Why are you here, better yet, what do you want?

The big doors closed, breaking the silence for a moment, the only thing keeping the room from being completely dark being was a few torches and a few tiny holes on the roof, letting light and snow in.

\- Oh, well chief, I believe you know what I want...

* * *

_Take your dragon..._ Alda whispered into Cela´s ear, who looked at her in confussion, if something was going to happen Alda didn´t want to stay any longer to find out, but of course, she wasn´t going away just like that, Cela, now petting Runi, had no idea what she was saying, and is not like she payed that much attention anyway, she could still remember being in that cage, the feeling of being starving and hearing her people and herself pleeding for their lives, she remembers how dark and cold the ship was and she wasn´t going back again.

The moment she finally reacted Alda was already trying to go to the stables, two men bloking her way.

-Let me pass!

-We can´t let anyone go out of the village...

-Well I´m not going out of the village! I just... Gotta get something!

-We can´t let you go...

She was going for the dragons, now, what was her plan, attack, burn her down, freeze her? maybe she just wanted to go away and never come back, hide from her until her last breath, she wouldn´t blame her, she wanted to do the same... What was happening to her, she couldn´t do that, she was a hunter, a hunter! what was the thinking, Gods! what was she thinking? a hunter doesn´t run away, but she wanted to, and she did the unthinkable for a hunter before, so why not now? no, she wasn´t running away.

_I... I gotta do something..._ and she looked everywhere, maybe something could help or at least give her an idea, _Kari..._ Kari was there, he helped her before, why not? but wouldn´t that be asking to much from the poor man? well, she was desesperate, so why not try?

_Please help me..._ he couldn´t hear her, but Cela´s face said everything, he saw her lips moving and the fear on her eyes, but what could he do, in fact, he had thing to worry about, his family, to begin with, but he couldn´t refure, that was his biggest flaw, he wasn´t able to say no, so there he was, moving in such erratic manner that made the person holding him use all of his strengh to finally break his bones, causing him to scream and drag everyone´s attention.

Thanks Cela murmured, then running away, chasing Alda who was now heading towards the stables. 

-What is the plan?

-Take your dragon, take care of the guards, help the people and attack!

-Wait what? 

-Yes, all of that, in that order!

-Oh, for Thor´s sake, you can´t be serious!

-I am! Now take Huntress and do what I told you!

-What about you?

-Novaki and I will be fine...

And just in fron of her, stood a red dragon, about eight feet, eyes as bright as an ember, head and body that resemble a salamander or a lizard from those strange lands that her father claim to have visited, four legs, the ones on the front smaller, and goat like horns on it´s head, a snake like tail and fangs the size of daggers.

-Have you never seen a fire dweller before?

* * *

-You can´t have our dragons, neither our supplies, Stormheart...

-Chief Ryden, I´m sure you´ll understand my men need food, and the village that provided us with that was destroyed, same with the one that provided us dragons...

-Well, I´m... sorry but Hagthuria won´t accept your deal...

-What a shame...

-Maybe for you...

-No, not really...

* * *

Cela didn´t know hos to properly ride a dragon, last time she crashed with something, hit her head and was knocked out, and that happened the last day, but now, now it was time, she jumped into Huntress´ back and she was ready, at least she hoped, _We can do this... We have to do this._

And she fell the urge to throw her guts out as Huntress started to flight, but it wasn´t time for that, neither to show her fear, if she was going to do something, is what Alda said, and she was already attacking the guards, as fire covered the dragon´s legs, tail and horns, trapping the guards in a circle, a sword and a shield on her hand, _CELA!_

And she and Huntress went towards everyone else, she kept telling everyone to seek for a place to hide, and Kari, the took him in the moment she saw him, helping him to get on top of Huntress´ back, trying to find the healer that helped her and letting him with the old man, and now that what Alda told her to do was done... it was time.

She had no weapons, so she decided to "burrow" some from the blacksmith, sword and shield, also, and a few knives and daggers that weren´t really heavy, maybe she could give them to anyone who wanted to help.

_SHIVER!_ Ryden came out of the great hall screaming and running, shield on hand, axe on the other, Stormheart followed him, ordering her men to have no mercy, like they weren´t ready to attack them, but they started firts, yes, Alda started with that rock.

In just a few minutes Ryden and Shiver were helping, getting people into boats and getting the few vikings who were dragon riders to help, one in a while jumping off the dragons to take care of the problem with their own hands and they were winning, they were winning, for a moment, just a tiny little moment...

The place was burning down, the housed were on fire, the people screaming, the animals and dragons running away, and next thing they knew, they were gone, no trace of Stormheart, not even her ship, apparently she wanted them to fight, hours, they spend hours doing so, enough time for her to run away and she was clearly ready to sacrigice her men for that.

-Runi! Runi! Can you track them?

-No... No he can´t, we can´t even see the ship!

-Ryden I´m... I´m sorry, I shouldn´t have done that, I...

-No, I´m not blaming you, I knew they wanted to attack us from the beggining...

And that moment was killed by loud sound of something falling down, everything around them was burning, burning, just burning, the former icy landscape was filled with flames, they tried to help the people, they tried, some were already cought on the flames, others died in the fight.

In no time, the place was nothing but Ice and Smoke, ashes of what once was Hagthuria, Ryden stood there, on the remains of what once was his home, his people and what he had to protect, and of course, he took it all out on Stormheart´s men, Alda did the same.

Cela didn´t hesitate to join, and some time after, they tried to find anyone, just anyone who survived... No one, just no one, not even a single viking, Kari was found with what she can only guess was his family, holding a child on his arms, a woman at his side. A scream, a guttural, heart breaking scream, a sound that should never be heard.

_What do we do now?_ Cela asked...

_I don´t know... Alda_ responded

_We live..._ Ryden said, tears rolling down his eyes, _We live for them and get away from this place... We live, get away from her and chase them down for them, we avenge them._

But where? they had nowhere else to go, so maybe the only thing they could do is to wander around the world until they got their revenge, what else would they do?

And the two of them couldn´t do nothing but agree...

_Yes chief..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I´m not ending this like that, I´m making the rest as another whole fanfic because is no longer about Cela...

**Author's Note:**

> That moment when you are feling the need to write something about your childhood obsession...


End file.
